Market research and consulting firm Tractica: The booming enterprise blockchain application market is coming

The kind of technology used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will have a major impact on the enterprise software landscape - Tractica

Blockchain technology could quickly become a gold mine for software vendors who can capitalize on it in the coming years, Tractica said.

The market research firm predicts that the global market for enterprise blockchain applications will reach $19.9 billion this year, up from $2.5 billion in 2015. North America will be the main region driving demand for the technology, followed by Europe.

The most famous implementation of blockchain is Bitcoin, a distributed ledger that is highly tamper-resistant and could simplify many of today's complex financial, trade and record-keeping platforms by eliminating middlemen.

However, Tractica analyst Jessica Groopman cautioned that it may take some time for this technology to become mainstream.

According to her research,

“Although the blockchain market has attracted a lot of attention and investment from all walks of life, as far as the situation is concerned, enterprise blockchain applications are still in the early stages, and there are only a few blockchain deployments other than Bitcoin. Whether deciding to join the blockchain wave or dismissing it as hype, it is recommended that enterprises first understand what blockchain is and how blockchain technology can support their core goals and long-term strategies.”

This summer, David Furlonger, vice president of Gartner Research, advised technology executives at companies to keep a close eye on blockchain technology but not get too excited. Although the technology is developing very rapidly, blockchain standards are still lacking, and betting on the future of blockchain enterprise applications is risky.

Regardless, Furlonger added, tech companies can learn more about the technology through blockchain trials. Blockchain has attracted strong interest from the investment community and some large companies. Tractica noted that venture capital firms have invested more than $1 billion in blockchain startups.

In October, IBM announced that it was investing $200 million in its Watson IoT Center in Munich, Germany, where it plans to connect the artificial intelligence platform with blockchain to enable companies to share IoT data securely and efficiently.

Credit card giant Visa also recently announced that it is working with blockchain startup Chain to create a system, Visa B2B Connect, to secure international B2B payments, with a pilot version of the platform set to launch in 2017.